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A/HRC/23/58 12 including through burning and mutilation, is a war crime found to have been perpetrated by individuals on both sides. 4. War crime of sentencing or execution without due process Anti-government armed groups 58. During the period under review, armed groups established judicial and administrative mechanisms across Aleppo, Dara’a, northern Idlib, Ar Raqqah, Al-Hasakah, Dayr az Zawr and parts of eastern Damascus governorate, attempting to fill the vacuum created by the absence of Government institutions. 59. In Aleppo, Damascus, Dara’a, Idlib, Dayr az Zawr and Ar Raqqah governorates, civilians and hors de combat Government soldiers were sentenced and executed without due process. Armed groups apply the loose standard of “having blood on one’s hands” to denote responsibility for criminal conduct deserving the death penalty. 60. In Dara’a and Ar Raqqah, armed groups used public show trials and executions of detainees affiliated with the Government to assert their authority and instil fear among civilians. In Yarmouk camp, Damascus, two people accused of being Government collaborators were hanged in a public square on 3 March without recourse to a regularly constituted court. On 14 May, fighters claiming to be from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant executed three Alawite men in a public square in Ar Raqqah city. The judgement stated that the execution was in retaliation for the massacre in Baniyas and Homs on 2 and 3 May. A series of trials in Ar Raqqah city and in Al-Shajarah (Dara’a) in April had sectarian dimensions. Witnesses stated that captured Alawite soldiers were consistently found guilty and executed, while non-Alawites were imprisoned or released. 61. In Aleppo, divisions among armed groups compromised efforts to establish a cohesive justice system. Attempts to establish independent civilian law enforcement structures were obstructed by armed group commanders wary of interference in their interests. Failure to agree on an applicable body of law means order is enforced arbitrarily, and courts are not regularly constituted. 62. Two competing bodies administer justice in Aleppo. The Judicial Council applies legal doctrine derived from regional sources of law, while the Sharia Board applies interpretations of Islamic law. Both have close functional links to the FSA, compromising their impartiality and independence, while the provision of basic guarantees essential to fair trial varies widely. According to one interviewee, the Sharia Board in Aleppo does not permit defence lawyers to participate in proceedings. 63. The war crime of sentencing and execution without due process was committed by armed groups in Aleppo, Damascus, Dara’a, Idlib, Dayr az Zawr and Ar Raqqah. In the cases described, sentences were passed and individuals – who were either hors de combat fighters or civilians – were executed with no previous judgement pronounced by a court providing the judicial guarantees generally recognized as indispensable under international law. C. Arbitrary arrest and detention Government forces and affiliated militia 64. Government forces continue to use deprivation of liberty as a weapon of war, and to collectively punish localities perceived to be supporting the armed opposition. 65. Family members of alleged armed group members are arrested and detained. In one documented incident, on 10 April, a man whose brother was wanted for arrest was detaine